


Trying our Best

by Floppybunny01



Series: What we are [1]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: F/F, I have no idea what I'm doing, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Octo Expansion DLC, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-03-09 06:39:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18911593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Floppybunny01/pseuds/Floppybunny01
Summary: The gang finally defeated Tartar and now everyone has to get back into the swing of things. Marina starts questioning when she should confess.





	1. Home

The rays from the morning sun shined down on our five heroes. The evil tartar and his ancient statue were drowning in the great sea. Eight and the others took a moment to look over the sea and the cities twinkling lights. She basked in the unfamiliar sensation of the sun’s warmth on her skin.

With the deep-sea metro conquered, Eight started to contemplate her future. She had been down in the metro for months and now she was free. Free to live her life as it was intended. She took a glance at Pearl and Marina who stood next to her, they were chatting about today’s adventure. From what Eight could hear, it sounded like Pearl was gloating about using her screaming abilities to take down tartar. Those two were defiantly in her future. Eight owed so much to them, she was just a stranger to them and yet they had shown her so much kindness, taking time out of their extremely busy lives to help her. Apart of Eight still couldn’t comprehend that she made it and that she was finally standing beside her friends whom she admired for so long. Eight knew she had made it a long way. Start as a small octoling lost in a metro with none of her memories. Now she had saved all of Inkopolis and of course made friends along the way. Friends that would guide Eight to her new, peaceful life in Inkopolis. Eight’s heart squeezed tighter as she thought of her victory. It became hard to breath. Her lungs begged for air, but her throat was full of tight knots. Warm tears started to form in the corner of her eyes, which was strange to Eight since she was happy not sadness. The tears started to trickle down her cheeks. Sobs even started to pass her lips and the tears started to pour down faster. Eight felt a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder. She looked over to see Pearl standing next to her, hand on Eight’s shoulder, and Pearl’s brows knit together in concern.

"Ay…you good?” Pearl asked giving Eight’s shoulder another squeeze. Eight used the palms of her hands to wipe the heavy tears on her face.

“I’m just so happy.” Eight said with a bright smile and a small laugh. Overwhelmed with joy, Eight wrapped her arms around Pearl and squeezed. Pearl returned the gesture as Marina joined the group hug. Eight could overhear Cuttlefish trying to convince Three to join the hug. They kept saying no, despite Cuttlefish practically begging. Eight looked over toward Three and mustered the best puppy eyes she could manage to convince them. Eight could hear Three sigh in defeat and walk over with Cuttlefish to join to hug. Everyone stayed like that for a few moments. Time was still, nothing else was present but each other’s warmth. All until Eight let them go when she realized she stopped crying.  
“Thank you.” The octoling whispered

 

Although Eight could watch the sun and sea forever, she was growing tired and couldn’t wait to experience sleep in an actual bed. Three and Cuttlefish decided to head off as well, they wanted to catch up with the Squid Sisters. Pearl, Marina, and Eight waved them goodbye and got back on the helicopter. Eight sat down by the edge, dangling her legs over the edge as the helicopter started to take flight. Pearl took a seat next to her followed by Marina. They didn’t say anything; they just watched the world down below. Inkopolis was still asleep. Not many Inklings or Jellies were about, all except the few early birds. Even from up here, Eight could tell living in Inkopolis was going to be an enjoyable time.

“You ready to sleep in a real bed?” Pearl interrupted the silence of the ride. Eight simply nodded, too exhausted to speak. “Back at our place, we got plenty of extra rooms. Feel free to choose whichever one you want, we don’t care. As long as it’s not our own bedroom of course. Maybe once we all get some rest, we could go furniture shopping to make the room your own!” Eight nodded again. Even though she wasn’t expressing it now, Eight was bubbling with exactment of having a place to call her own. She was already imaging the different aesthetics she wanted to give her room. Her gut told her she wanted to give it a similar vibe to the metro. Sure the metro wasn’t full of her most present memories, but it was where she accomplished more than she ever thought capable. It’s also where she met her favorite people in the world. Sure, it was evil, but the metro was still a special place to Eight.

“Eight,” Marina ceased Eight’s thoughts, “you don’t have to worry about money, we have plenty to go around and we’re fine giving you what you need.”

“Or want.” Pearl nudged Eight with her elbow. Eight didn’t understand what that meant, but decided not to question it for now.

Eight could barely keep her eyes open when they landed beside the mansion. Pearl and Marina each had to take one of Eight’s arms to help her out of the helicopter and walk her to the front of the mansion. Pearl quickly inserted the passcode to make the door unlock. Once inside, Pearl and Marina helped Eight to the nearest room.  
Eight jumped across the room and crashed into the bed and instantly passed out. The last thing she heard was Pearl and Marina planning to go sleep as well.

Pearl stretched her arms above her head and let out a long yawn. Scratching her back, Pearl glanced at the clock on her night stand. She had managed to sleep around twelve hours. Pearl couldn’t the last time she got that much sleep. She used to sleep that long practically every day until Off the Hook blew up. Feeling refreshed, Pearl jumped out of bed, slid into her slippers, and rushed down the steps. As she descended the stairs, Pearl heard a faint melody. A soft humming was coming from the kitchen, and based on the heavenly melody, Pearl could determine that it was Marina. Pearl strolled into the kitchen, where she realized she was, of course, right. Marina was humming a sweet tune to herself as she worked on breakfast, or lunch. Possibly diner at this point.

“Mornin’, Reena. Watcha’ cookin’?” Marina turned to face the familiar voice she heard. A with a small grin formed on her face when she realized who it was. A smile that Pearl would die for.

“Oh…good morning…or afternoon Pearlie. I was just making some eggs.” Marina said as she continued to focus her efforts towards making the scrambled eggs as perfect as possible.

“I wonder what type of egg Eight prefers.” Pearl scratched her chin curiously.

“Honestly, I think she’ll eat practically anything from Inkopolis. Everything up here tastes like heaven compared to the garbage they served in the domes.”

“Oh yeah! That’s why you were so amazed by Inkopolis food when we first met. I remember the first meal I made you was microwaved mac and cheese and you were absolutely blown away! Honestly, I was worried you’ve never eaten till then.” Pearl chuckled at the silly memory of Marina’s shining eyes as she chowed the macaroni down like a savage animal. Marina laughed as well, continuing to work on the eggs.

“Trust me, Pearlie. You’d have the same reaction if all you ate in the past were vitamins.”

Marina transferred the eggs to plates and delicately placed them on the table. Pearl, like usual, dug right into her food, practically sucking it into her mouth like a vacuum. She looked like an animal, kind of like how Marina used to eat her food until she learned what manners were, she had surprisingly managed to learn them faster than Pearl despite not living in Inkopolis as long. Marina rolled her eyes and ate her food like a civilized citizen. Even though she only took a few bites of her eggs, Pearl had already consumed hers and was already washing her plate in the sink.

“I’m gotta go grab something. I’ll be right back.” Pearl said before sprinting off.

Marina had no clue where she was heading off to. They had only been back home for half a day after the wild events of Tartar and Pearl was already back to acting like nothing happened. Her typical self. The one Marina loved so much.

Just a few seconds later, Pearl came running back into the kitchen with her laptop tucked beneath her arm. She sat back down into her seat and took a moment to gain her breath back. Running with those stubby legs must be difficult. Pearl opened the laptop and entered her password at lightning speed, not even taking a glance at the keyboard. Whatever she had planned, Pearl seemed eager.

“So, I was thinking.” Pearl took another breath. “We should buy Eight some clothes cause she ain’t got shit.”

“Well obviously at some point we’ll need to, but don’t you think we should do that with Eight herself?”

“But Eight needs clothes pronto. We can shop with her later. We just need to buy some emergency clothes, so she actually wears something that’s not that leather mess she’s got on now.” Marina nodded now understanding Pearl’s reasoning. Eight’s outfit did look fresh, but wearing that same outfit for months must have been terrible.

Marina watched Pearl scroll threw Annie’s online shop. Pearl was looking at big oversized hoodies and sweatpants, a nice change compared to Eight’s current outfit. Though something about the clothes Pearl was looking at seemed suspicious. Marina took a closer look at the options Pearl were looking at and most of them were pastel pink. It looked exactly like the clothes Pearl would wear. Pearl wore lots of baggy clothes that were too big for her, like the sweatshirt she had on now. Pearl was also known for stealing some of Marina’s sweatshirts and never giving them back.

“You’re sure you’re not shopping for yourself?” Marina raised a suspicious eyebrow at Pearl.

“I’m just buying her the freshest clothes, which are the one’s exactly like mine, duh.” Pearl used the back of her hand to make her tentacle swoosh, like those popular snobby stereotypes. Despite rolling her eyes, Marina found herself giggling at Pearl’s silly demeanor.

“Oh Pearlie, you’re so cute you know that?” Marina couldn’t help but pinch Pearl’s cheeks.

“Yeah? Well if I’m the cute one then you’re the hot one. You’re like the hottest cephalopod in all of Inkopolis!” They both laughed and totally didn’t start bushing at that comment.

Pearl’s teasing started to make Marina ponder. It was no secret that their teasing would get a little, or a lot, flirtatious. Every tease that Marina told Pearl held meaning, Pearl was really adorable. Marina would even go as far to say she had a crush on the inkling. It started small, but grew along with their connection over the two years they’ve known each other. Marina kept it to herself though. She was too afraid. Her biggest fear was if they jumped into a relationship, Pearl would have a better chase of finding out her secret. That she was an octoling. She was afraid her reaction would be bad or that Pearl would lose her trust. Now, thanks to a certain Cuttlefish who she totally wasn’t still salty at, her secret was outed. Instead of being heartbroken, Pearl was nothing but supportive. That was the moment Marina knew that Pearl was truly the one. She knew Pearl loved her with all her heart. Whether that was platonic or romantic, Marina didn’t know. She was now just waiting for the right time to tell her. Currently, they’re still adjusting to a new octo in their lives and they just finished the adventure of a lifetime. Marina thought a little break before she said anything would be better, otherwise it would be to many emotions at once.

Marina was broken out of her trance when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned her head around to see a much more energetic Eight glancing at her surroundings. She slowly spun around to get a full glimpse of this part of the mansion. Clearly, she was shocked, her mouth as ajar. She was clearly mesmerized by everything in the mansion. It was certainly one hell of an upgrade compared to living on a train for months.

“Hey Eight, I made you some eggs if you’re hungry,” Marina pointed toward the plate of eggs that lay on the table.

“Thank you…” Eight replied. She approached the table then cocked her head to the side when she saw the food on the table. “Do you…eat this?” she said as she took a seat. Pearl burst out laughing at Eight’s confusion.

“She’s just like you when you first came to the surface, Reena!” Saying the comparison out loud made her laughter even stronger.

“Pearl! You’re being rude.” Marina turned to face Eight once again. “Yes, it is edible we promise. Trust me, the food in Inkopolis is much better than anything in the domes.”  
Eight hesitantly put the food onto her fork, which was also a struggle since she held it at the end of it with her hand clenched. She carefully bit down on the eggs and swallowed. She sat completely still for a moment. The room in pure silence, it made Marina nervous that Eight somehow didn’t like it. Maybe she actually preferred the food in the domes, it sounded impossible but maybe Eight had busted taste buds. Her worries were washed away as Eight’s eyes sparked in delight. She softly squealed and shoved more eggs into her mouth at a rapid pace.

“She really does look just like you.” Pearl remarked, a wide grin on her face.

Marina was looking forward to their new life together with Eight by their side.


	2. Shopping Spree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marina and Pearl take Eight on a shopping trip before they have to get back to work.

Eight’s eyes slowly fluttered open, due to the rays of the sun that peeked through the curtains. She sat up to stretch her arms high above her head. As she stretched to awaken her body, her eyes wandered around her room. It was coming along nicely. 

Posters of different idols, like Off the Hook and The Squid Sisters, were hung on the wall along with some neon signs. Eight especially liked the bright pink sign in the shape of a digital eight. Her bed was filled with throw pillows and stuffed animals that Eight admittingly liked to snuggle with when nightmares plagued her mind. Shelves were lined with different knickknacks from Inkopolis’ many tourist area’s that Pearl and Marina took Eight to during her first week on the surface. Her small walk in closet was full of clothes from both their shopping trips and the clothes Pearl got online.

Today, Pearl thought it would be a good idea to get even more clothes. Eight knew it was going to be impossible to fit all of the clothes Pearl insisted on buying into the closet. Pearl told her everything would be fine and that they would just put the out of season clothes into storage. Eight was far from surprised to hear that Pearl’s plan had to do with the many rooms in the mansion she called storage. 

“Eighttttt! C’mon we gotta go!” Pearl yelled from below. 

Eight snapped back into reality. She hopped out of her bed, slid into her slippers, and tumbled down the stairs. She rushed towards the kitchen, only knowing her way from the sweet aroma emitting from it. When she realized she turned into the kitchen, Eight tried to stop her movements, but the slippery tiles of the floor disliked her slippers, causing her to start falling. Thankfully, Marina swooped down to the rescue. 

“And that is why you don’t run in the house.” Marina quickly checked Eight’s body to see if there are any injures.

“But Marina, I couldn’t help it. Breakfast just smelled so good and I know you and Pearl are in a bit of a hurry.”

“Yeah Reena,” Pearl chimed in from the kitchen table, as she chowed down on a toaster strudel. “let the kid live. Let her go absolutely fucking feral.”

“Pearl!” Marina quickly moved her hands atop Eight’s ears.

“Cod Marina she’s sixteen! You don’t need to be such a mom.”

Marina rolled her eyes and shook her head. Eight noticed though, despite those actions, a small smile was present on her face.

“Anyway Eight, since Pearl wants to make your last day before we go back to work special, she wants to get out the door fast, so I made you something quick and simple.” Marina reached for a plate on the counter and handed it towards Eight. “A toaster strudel.”

Eight clenched hearing such a delicacy called ‘simple’. The strudel still had steam floating off it, indicating that it was still warm. The whole room filled with the light scent of strawberry mixed with vanilla. She took it from Marina’s hands and bit into its crust. The taste exploded against her taste buds, much like all Inkopolis food. How could anyone with a sane mind call this plain? Eight had no idea. 

In a matter of seconds, the strudel was gone. Marina grabbed napkins off the counter to clean the leftover crumbs plastered upon her face. Marina made sure to get off every last crumb, despite Eights obvious protest of trying to turn her head away from the napkin, like a child.

“Eight, go get dressed then come in the car, okay?” Marina threw the napkin into the nearest trash can. 

Eight nodded, then headed back upstairs. 

 

Pearl also went upstairs, saying something about looking for her keys, but Marina didn’t hear a word. She was too lost in her own mind. Actually, she’s been lost there all week, daydreaming about where and how to confess to Pearl. She’d think of exactly what to say and where. The entire week Marina made a plan to try to tell Pearl at some romantic spot, but something always got in the way. Time was running out as well, they had to get back to work tomorrow. Marina knew she’d never be able to find the perfect time then. That meant Marina would have to confess today. She knew that, but she also knew that would mean she probably wouldn’t be able to make it special. Maybe, Marina thought, that was okay. This didn’t have to be some huge thing, it could be smaller, Marina liked things on the simpler side anyway. Marina thought for a moment, then decided. She’d do it when she felt the time was right, whenever that may be. It didn’t matter where or how she did it, what truly mattered was what she said, and Marina had definitely got that down. She’d been practicing in her head the whole week. 

At the perfect timing, when Marina made up her mind, she heard a fellow octoling tumbling down the stairs. Marina had told Eight countless times that going down the stairs so fast was going to get her hurt, but she never listened. One day it was bound to happen, then Eight would get her karma and never run down the steps again. Marina was sure of it. 

“I’m ready.” Eight gave Marina a bright smile, as if she did nothing wrong.

“Perfect, but where’s Pearl.” 

“I’m here!” Pearl shouted, a couple rooms away from the kitchen, where Marina and Eight stood.

Peral ran as fast as she could. Clearly out of breath, she held up the keys.

“Gottem.” 

 

Eight didn’t hesitate for a second to undo her seatbelt and jump out of the car. Pearl followed suit. The two of them were both clearly exited to explore the mall. 

“And this Eight,” Pearl extended her hand and paned it across the lot, “Is the Mall.” 

The store was even bigger than Eight had imagined. One large glass building stood tall in the center of a mob of clothing, entertainment, and food stores. In a way, it reminded Eight of shopping centers except the mall was way more extra with its fairy lights, modern art décor hanging on the walls, paintings along the stone pathway, the peculiar statues of deformed looking inklings and jellies, and, of course, how overwhelmingly large it was.

Eight took in every detail of the strange place as the three of them headed towards the main entrance. She would occasionally pause to peer at her unfamiliar surroundings. Mariana waited patiently for Eight to look around, but Pearl not so much. Fed up with waiting, Pearl grabbed Marina and Eight’s wrists to pull them through the main double doors. 

“Ta-da!” Pearl threw her arms into the air. “So…Whadda’ think?”

Eight’s eyes started emitting sparkles as soon as her eyes caught something not far in the distance. “There are moving stairs!” Eight pointed at them, her feet tapping eagerly against the white tile, awaiting to ride it. 

Pearl turned her head around to face whatever was getting Eight so worked up. When she noticed what it was, she sighed. “That’s an escalator, Eight.” 

Eight didn’t care what they were called, all she knew was that she had to get on it now. She sprinted towards it without a second thought, with Pearl and Marina following after her. After carefully observing the other cephalopods behavior towards dealing with the moving stairs, Eight followed suit, stepping both feet onto one of the steps and stood there until she reached the top. 

 

That was…underwhelming.

 

“Y’know” Pearl started after she hopped off the escalator, “we need to take you to Wahoo World sometime. Trust me, the rides there are way better than the…moving stairs.”

Eight had seen Wahoo World before on TV while watching turf matches to see what all the hype was about. It was a colorful place with weird contraptions cephalopods liked to put themselves into and scream at the top of their lungs. Eight thought it was weird at first, but then after some speculation she thought the idea of being allowed to scream without judgement seemed like a wonderful time. 

Eight responded with a nod while Pearl linked her arms around hers and Marina’s and headed in no particular direction. 

 

“Perfect.” Pearl let her arms come back to her sides, then walked into a store that caught her interest.

In the window was a cartoon sun painted on with window chalk or marker and the words ‘Summer Sale!’ were written in bold pastel lettering. The inside was full of summer clothes and decorations. Simple tee’s, sun dresses, and shorts were scattered about the store. The accessories area was full of sunglasses and baseball caps. Cartoon paper suns and watermelon slices hung down on a sting from the ceiling and sale signs were plastered everywhere. Clearly, the store was very festive towards the summer season, which Eight thought was cute. From what she could tell, the summer aesthetic seemed like a good one.

Eight tore her gaze away from the many decorations of the store and followed after Pearl and Marina, who were already picking out outfits they assumed would fit Eight’s style. 

After rummaging through the store and finding lots of clothes to try on, Eight asked an employee to unlock a dressing room. There, she tried on three sun dresses, many t-shirts to, and a couple crop tops. With every look she went to show them to Pearl and Marina. She’d strut toward them, giving an occasional flip of a tentacle, then finish it off with a small twirl. Of course, her friends responded with tons of complements and loud clapping that had to be giving everyone else in the store a headache. 

After she showed off her last outfit, Eight grabbed all the clothing. She desperately clung onto the large pile so she wouldn’t drop it as she walked out of the dressing room, closing it with her foot, and approached Pearl and Marina who were both complaining about having to go to work tomorrow. 

“So which outfits should we get?” Eight asked, tilting her head.

Pearl stood up and put her hand on her shoulder. “Eight, we’re getting all of them.”

“Of course, we are.”

 

In a short matter of time the three girls had bags full of clothes from a multitude of stores. All of their arms were growing sore and their stomachs were starting to rumble, so they decided they would stop at the food court before they left. Thankfully, none of them were in a big rush since Eight was taking her time to observe the different shops and grabbing every sample that was offered to her. 

Eight was scratching her nail against a rose scented scratch and sniff, when a certain shop caught her attention. A brightly colored candy store with an inkling employee standing on the outside, holding a bowl of some type of candy. Excited to try out another sample, Eight skipped towards the employee, but as she got closer, something about the particular inkling stood out. They had a pale completion. Scars covered almost every inch of their body. Their lime-green tentacles were pulled back into a high pony. It was their one blue eye and the other more teal one that made Eight realize who it was though. 

“Three!” She skipped towards her at a faster pace while waving her arms in the air to get their attention. 

Three looked up from the ground, eyes widened, clearly startled. 

“Eight? What are you doing here?”

“Shopping with Pearl and Marina.” Eight said as she grabbed one of the samples and popped it into her mouth. 

“Speak of the devils.” Three peered over Eight’s shoulder toward the approaching Pearl and Marina, who were waving at them. 

“Three.” Marina started, “It’s so nice to see you again. How are Callie and Marie?”

“Oh them. Yeah, they’re fine. They were really happy to see that Gramps and I were okay. Of course, they had a lot of questions with what we were up to that whole time. We had a lot of explaining to do.” Three folded her arms and slouched back against the store’s wall. “Oh, speaking of visiting Callie and Marie,” Three looked back up, away from the floor and right into Eight’s eyes. Eight had no idea why that made her hearts jump. “they actually wanted to see you.”

“Oh, when?”

“Uh, whenever you’re available, I guess.”

“Tonight, I can go tonight.”

“Okay, let me see if that’s good for them.” Three reached deep into their pockets then pulled out their phone. 

Pearl took a step towards Three “Can we go too?”

Three didn’t answer right away, they answered after finished the last few taps on their phone. “I guess since everyone is going to be there, I don’t think they would mind, even if you two aren’t technically part of The Squidbeak Splatoon.” 

“But we should be.” Pearl mumbled.

Three rolled their eyes at that response and went back to typing. “They said tonight at seven is good. Oh, and one last thing before you guys head off. Don’t mention Four’s voice.” 

“Why?” Eight asked 

“She has a lisp and hates it. Even if it’s a complement, just don’t say anything about it or she won’t even talk to you. When she first joined TSS, she actually didn’t talk to anyone until she felt comfortable, which wasn’t until months after she first met the agents. She still doesn’t talk that much in public either still. Whenever I’m hanging out in public with her, I always have to do the talking.”

Eight nodded along despite not completely understanding, but if it made Four uncomfortable, she would make sure she didn’t say anything. 

“Thanks for letting us know, Three.” Marina said with a warm smile. “We’ll see you then okay?”

“Mhm.”

Marina waved a goodbye while moving Eight and Pearl along towards the food court. 

 

It didn’t take Eight, Pearl, and Marina long to find the entry way to Octo Canyon in Inkopolis Square. It was also a short swim before they arrived. Once they entered, every member of The Squidbeak Splatoon stood before them. Captain Cuttlefish took a wobbly step toward Eight. 

“Eight, do you except your duty as a member of The New Squidbeak Splatoon. To protect Inkopolis from potential danger.”

Eight nodded. She thought she was a member already, but she guessed since she never had an official ceremony it didn’t technically count. 

“Then Eight.” Craig brought his cane to both of Eight’s shoulders, as if knighting her, “I announce you an official member of The New Squidbeak Splatoon.”

The other agents cheered and clapped, which caused Eight’s cheeks to glow pink from the sudden attention. When the cheering subsided, Callie stepped forward, both her hands tucked behind her back. It was clear she was hiding something from the smirk spread across her face and how she swayed back and forth on her toes. 

“And now that you’re an official agent, you’re going to need these.” Callie extended her arms to reveal agent headphones cradled in her hands. It looked a lot like Three’s with the cushioning at the bottom of the headphones. The lights in the headphones glowed a bright pink rather than blue and, of course, they were rounded to fit Eight’s ears. 

“Thank you.” Eight took it from Callie and put it on her ears. The headphones were actually a lot more comfortable than they looked. 

Once Pearl and Marina went to discuss with Callie and Marie, Eight could feel weights being lifted from her shoulders. Having everyone surround and stare at her was very uncomfortable, as it would probably be for everyone. She let out a sigh of relief.

Eight planned on joining the conversation between the Squid Sisters and Off The Hook, until she noticed the other agents, Three and who Eight could only assume was Four, were coming in her direction. 

“Heya, Eight! It’s nice to meet ya. The names Four.” The joyful inkling extends her hand which Eight excepted and shook. 

“It’s nice to meet you as well.” 

“Soo…is it true that you saved Inkopolis from ultimate doom? I mean, I thought saving the zapfish and Callie was cool, but you! You saved all of Inkopolis! That’s so cool!”

“Well I um...” Eight scratched the back of her head, trying to conjure up how to respond. 

“Of course, she did, dumbass.” Three snapped at Four, interrupting Eight’s thoughts. 

“I wasn’t asking you. Plus, you were unconscious the whole time anyway.”

Three just gave their signature eyeroll and went back to browsing their way more interesting phone.

“Just ignore them, Eight. Their just an asshole.” 

Eight shrugged not knowing what to say. 

“Oh, Eight can I see your phone real quick.”

Quickly, Eight unlocked it and handed it to Four. Maybe giving her phone to a stranger wasn’t the best idea, but surely Eight could trust a fellow agent. 

Four only had it for a few taps, then returned it.

“I just realized you weren’t in the group chat, so I added you.”

“Oh, thank you, Four.”

“It was no biggie.”

Eight overheard Pearl and Marina saying their goodbyes. Not long after, Marina lightly tapped Eight’s shoulder to gain her attention.

“Pearl and I were thinking of heading home. It’s been a long day and we have work tomorrow.”

Eight nodded, then went around to say goodbye to everyone. She gave one last big wave before heading back to Inkopolis Square. 

 

Eight went right to her room to crash into her bed right when they arrived back home. Pearl and Marina were both tightening the place up before going to bed. 

Pearl grabbed pillows off the ground and put them onto their respective couches and chairs, meanwhile Marina wipped down the kitchen counters and put the clean dishes into the cupboards. 

Marina could hear Pearl let out a yawn. She then heard her flick the living room lights off and drag her feet lazily into the kitchen. Marina glanced up to see her friend standing in the kitchen. Her eyes were dreary and she was leaning over giving her terrible posture. Marina couldn’t help but find Pearl’s sleepy state adorable. Just the sight of her made Marina’s hearts leap. 

“I’m going to bed. See ya in the morning.” 

Pearl turned around to head toward her room, but Marina instinctively reached out and grabbed Pearl’s wrist. She couldn’t fathom why she did that, until she saw the small inkling turn to face back towards her, with hazy eyes locked into Marina’s own. 

That’s when she knew that it was time for Marina to tell Pearl how she feels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yesterday I finally got the chance to play Splatoon and see the final splatfest's dialogue and I swear if Nintendo breaks up Off The Hook I'm actually going to cry.
> 
> Also I promise getting the next chapter out won't take as long as this one did.

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to post for a loooong time but I'm an anxious mess and my life got busy. None of that matters now because I'm here and I'm so exited (and still incredibly nervous) to share my stupid stories.


End file.
